21 h. ago Jumanji review – startling 90s game fantasy adventure with Robin Williams in winning form

Williams is exuberant but controlled as elephants trample the town and a waterfall crashes down the stairs in bizarre Kiplingesque fantasy that still holds upThe Jumanji franchise has been enjoyably revived in the last few years, but the new reboot films don’t have the purely startling quality of the original fantasy-surreal adventure from 1995, now rereleased for its 30th anniversary. Adapted from a 1981 children’s picture book by Chris Van Allsburg, it starred Robin Williams in an exuberant, winning but notably controlled lead performance. This is an entertainment in the broad Hollywood tradition of Capra and Spielberg, with a boisterous touch of Peter Pan in that the stern father figure and the scary villain are both played by the same actor. But there’s something else, too, a dash of something that, if it were played straight, would be genuinely creepy. And actually, even played just the way it is, it’s still pretty creepy.Williams plays Alan Parrish, a guy who in his childhood ...

Politics

69 h. ago Beaten, banished, killed: Witchcraft accusations haunt Africa’s old

In villages across Africa, accusations of witchcraft lead to beatings, banishment and even death

Events

2 d. ago Borderline review – Raymond Nicholson shines as a deranged fan in comedy thriller

It’s the 1990s and a famous pop star is taken hostage by a fan in Jimmy Warden’s stylish but confused film, loosely inspired by a real-life stalker case involving MadonnaPaul Duerson (Raymond Nicholson) has got it bad for world famous pop star and actor Sofia (Samara Weaving). It being the 1990s, he doesn’t have the option of simply being creepy on social media; instead, he takes her hostage and attempts to marry her, as you do, in a period-comedy-horror-thriller that is entertaining enough moment-to-moment, but doesn’t add up anything very substantial overall. Standing in the way of Paul’s deranged scheme is bodyguard Bell (a grounded and nicely judged performance by Eric Dane), and rounding out the men in Sofia’s life is her NBA player boyfriend Rhodes (Jimmie Fails).Screenwriter Jimmy Warden knows a grabby real-life premise when he sees one. In 1985, a bear ate a massive amount of cocaine and fatally overdosed, leading, in 2023, to the release of the Warden-scripted movie Cocaine...

Politics

4 d. ago 'I took my kids to see WWE live on UK tour – this is what it's really like for families'

REVIEW: WWE superstars entertained fans live across the UK so the Daily Star's Neil Docking took his children to the AO Arena in Manchester to see what their shows are really like for families

Society

4 d. ago Gorillaz: Demon Days at the Copper Box Arena review – the ultimate in fan service

Laden with bangers and packed with guest appearances, this was a performance for the history books

Sport

5 d. ago Premier League Match Centre explains reason why Man Utd were denied penalty vs Burnley

Kyle Walker was adjudged to have fouled Mason Mount in the early stages of Burnley's trip to Manchester United but a VAR review resulted in no penalty, leaving home fans furious

Politics

7 d. ago Honor Magic V5 review: fantastic foldable phone that needs better Android software

Super-svelte body, fast chip, high capacity battery and big camera make it some of the best phone-tablet hardwareHonor’s latest foldable phone-tablet attempts to usurp Samsung as the leader of the pack with a super-thin body, massive battery and a ginormous camera lump on the back.The Magic V5 is an impressively thin piece of engineering, slimmed down to about 8.9mm thick when shut, with each half about the same thickness as a USB-C port. It feels very similar to a standard slab phone in the hand, but one you can open up like a book for a mini-tablet on the go.Main screen: 7.95in (403ppi) 120Hz OLED flexible displayCover screen: 6.43in (405ppi) 120Hz OLEDProcessor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 EliteRAM: 16GBStorage: 512GBOperating system: MagicOS 9.0.1 (Android 15)Camera: 50MP + 50MP ultrawide + 64MP 3x tele; 2x 20MP selfieConnectivity: 5G, dual sim + esim, USB-C, wifi 7, NFC, Bluetooth 6, GNSSWater resistance: IP58 and IP59 (immersion and high pressure jets)Dimensions folded: 156.8 x 74.3...

Events

8 d. ago Mother review – Noomi Rapace is a fanatical Mother Teresa full of fury

Rapace plays the canonised Kolkata nun with hard-bitten intensity in a complex, lurid story that veers between faithful telling and bouts of funThe convent is a pressure cooker in this fevered, energetic account of a pivotal week in the life of the young Mother Teresa, which jump-starts the Orizzonti sidebar at this year’s Venice film festival. Macedonian writer-director Teona Strugar Mitevska ticks down the days from seven to one and wrings a performance of flayed, hard-bitten intensity from Noomi Rapace, who marches down the corridors with a face full of fury. Rapace is a long way from her breakout role in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo; tonally, though, not so much. If Mother Teresa never goes so far as to set about the sisters with an axe, the sense that she might injects Mitevska’s film with a pleasing dose of danger.It is 1948, we’re in the broiling heart of Kolkata and Sister Teresa has tired of her teaching role at the Loreto Entally convent. “I’m a woman in a system run by...

Politics

2 w. ago Sir Tom Jones review: Welsh icon leaves fans dancing and crying at triumphant homecoming

Sir Tom returned to the Green, Green Grass of Home, and it was like he never left.

Politics

2 w. ago UK tech YouTuber 'destroyed in comments' as fans rage over Google Pixel 10 review

MrWhoseTheBoss has more than 21.4m subscribers on YouTube and the man behind it – whose real name is Arun Maini – has come in for major criticism over his latest review

Technology

2 w. ago Pensioner 'beaten to death' after shopkeepers accuse him of stealing chocolate bar

The 67-year-old was reportedly dumped by a roadside after allegedly being punched, kicked and hit with an iron rod.

Events

2 w. ago Is the Dreamland Silent Power Fan Worth It? My Honest Review After a Heatwave

Prized for its heating ability, the Dreamland Silent Power Pure Air also works as a cooling fan. But can it save me in London’s latest heatwave?

Politics

3 w. ago The Magician of Tiger Castle by Louis Sachar review – whimsical fantasy in a kingdom long, long ago

In this first adult novel from the acclaimed children’s author, an immortal magician returns to tell the story of a royal court where he cast his spells some 500 years beforeThe American author Louis Sachar’s most celebrated book, 1998’s YA novel Holes, was a huge word-of-mouth success on both sides of the Atlantic. Its short, punchy chapters tell the story of plump, hapless Stanley Yelnats, sent to a summer camp for wayward boys, where a terrifying Warden has peculiar ideas about character reformation. The 5ft-deep holes the boys are required to dig turn out to have a surprising purpose. Shifts of time, register and perspective render a simple premise mesmerisingly intricate. It has peril, love, crime, wickedness, redemption and friendship in, well, spades.A quarter of a century later, Sachar has written his first supposedly adult novel, in which many of the same ingredients reappear. A man “dressed like a typical American tourist”, but with an odd habit of storing cake crumbs in t...

Politics

3 w. ago SwitchBot Circulator Fan review: a smart air circulator with app control and quiet performance

Our hands-on review of the SwitchBot Circulator Fan explores whether this smart, quiet, battery-powered gadget is worth the price.

Politics

4 w. ago ‘Very perplexing’ race under review after fans accuse beaten jockey of 'fixing'

Kirk Johnson will be quizzed by stewards after appearing to ease up on his mount and surrender a huge lead before being caught near the finish

Sport